review(s) linearpro™ ...

Przemek Danilowicz

He works as a sound engineer for a television company. He is also very skilled post-production and mastering specialist. He is the new owner of Quality studio 2.0 and founder of Silent Production studio.

By education and experience, I am also a professional musician and composer. In the studio, I usually work on various monitors, including the main ones being PMC TB2S+ and the Genelec 8341, Genelec 8030, and Tannoy DMT system 8. The heart of my studio is the Antelope Audio Orion Studio interface and converter. With this point of reference, I was happy to get down to listening to the two Lipinski L-707 loudspeakers supplied to me and also the linearaudio model M v3.0 powered by the same cyberAMP™ v3.1 amplifier. Seemingly similar sets with a sealed enclosure design and the concept of two midrange speakers with a physical time alignment tweeter in the middle for best phase alignment.

Listening tests I did by analyzing brilliantly realized recordings i.e. Kenny Wheeler Quartet - Nicollette, BEADY BELLE - CRICKLEWOOD BROADWAY, Mischa Maisky - Bach: Suites For Solo Violoncello, Helge Lien Trio „Guzugusu”, Robert Glasper „Fuck You Feelings”, Bill Frisell "Valentine”, Guy Sigsworth „Stet”, Charlie Haden & Pat Metheny – Beyond The Missouri Sky. I was very familiar with these albums and like to refer to them in various other speaker tests. To my pleasant surprise, on each set of speakers, each of these recordings revealed new impressions and sometimes subtle new details that escaped me in other listening sessions. The first thing that comes to mind is great dynamics, transparency in every band, and excellent balance.

The sound is spectacular !

The detail is so immersive that when listening to the album "Charlie Haden & Pat Metheny - Beyond The Missouri Sky" my attention was drawn to the use of clear, maybe even too clear ;) compression, which I had not paid much attention to before with this album. On the other hand, the sound of the guitar and double bass itself is superbly rendered in full bandwidth with all the details such as the length and size of the applied reverb or finger shifts on the strings. Spectacular possibilities in the dynamics and sonics of both of these sets emerged when listening to Robert Glasper's "Fuck You Feelings", Bill Frisell's "Valentine" Guy Sigsworth's "Stet". The forward snare drum in Robert Glasper's Intro Instrumental is impressive, and the carbonation applied to the foot draws even more attention. It's all even clearer and scarier. The already well-known to me and brilliantly realized album "Stet" by Guy Sigsworth, the producer who worked with Bjork, revealed further amazing details. Both the Lipinski 707 and linearaudio M are great studio monitors, albeit different in color, so to speak. Tuning.

I am not surprised that the legendary L-707 monitors were a serious inspiration for Marian Mlodnicki to make model M v3.0 monitors. Considering the whole listening setup i.e. the dedicated cyberAMP™ v3.1 amplifier with switchable modes RISM™ (Remotely Interchangable Sound Modes), based on 3 different crossovers (active in amplifier + passive in loudspeaker), gives us great new listening possibilities. It is definitely not a copy of Lipinski. Of course, due to the very concept and construction of the speaker, the overall character is similar, but the tuning of these speakers is completely different, especially in the higher midrange.

Crafted for professional mastering, mix engineers and music producers.

linearpro™ model "M" is flagship reference audio monitoring for studio (Mastering Grade, near-field and mid-field range // from 1.5 to 3.5 meters). Precise and transparent, natural tone and balanced frequency response. 100% timeless analog, handcrafted drivers pairing (±¼dB). Sealed enclosure, fast response (Q_TC0.7) & powerful bass.

I must admit that many years ago I was a fan of the sound of Lipinski L-707 set and had the opportunity to work on it in a couple of studios. Now having more familiarity and comparison, they no longer impress me as much as they once did. Taste is also framed and honed. Over the years having experience working on many different audios and having a choice of linearaudio model M, now the Lipinski set even seemed to me at times slightly tiring, and slightly noisy, especially in the upper midrange.

Of course, this is a very subjective issue. I also understand that for many producers the high brightness of this band may be an advantage. Perhaps it is also a matter of choosing another amplifier for the 707, which will eliminate this effect, but I would like to add that I have hooked up the cyberAMP v3.1 amplifier to many other speakers, e.g. PMC, Tannoy, and all the other amplifiers I own, and the cyberAMP left all its competitors in the shade with its dynamics and clarity. But I know from experience that even the best elements in an audio circuit may not work together, and they need to be well-matched with each other considering many elements. I did not notice this feature in the set of lineraudio M + cyberAMP, so this set is closer to my sound preferences.

I would like to mention that in retrospect, after listening and working on many different monitors, I will say that there is no perfect audition without flaws. No matter how much it costs. Listening, on which we work, is an individual choice and has to meet our personal preferences, matched to the environment in which we listen and work. There are many elements that make up the final result of what we hear and in the end, there are still our needs and tastes. Both sets are great and recommendable, the difference is in what kind of sound we like to work with, and interact with.

Maciej Golinski "Envee"

The primary source of sound and the heart in my workbench has been for several years now the Universal Audio Apollo 8 card. The listening system is controlled by the Monitor & Talkback Controller of the SPL and is based on PMC IB1S monitors. For all these years our PMC were driven by custom amplifiers built on Hypex Audio boards. The sound achieved in this way was very conducive to effective work on mixing and mastering and inspiring in the process of creating and recording music. I had guests in the studio, who themselves used our system for mixing and emphasized the fact of effectiveness of working on it. I have also had guests who are not professional sound engineers but who collect records, spend a lot of time perfecting their home stereo system and spend a lot of money on it. They were always very impressed with our sound. This went on for about 6 years. I think it's safe to say that I got my ears used to great sound and developed a high level of demand for listening conditions at work.

On the occasion of some failure of one of the Hypex amplifiers, I managed to get a linearpro™ cyberAMP from Marian Mlodnicki for testing.

Initial curiosity after plugging it in quickly turned into amazement. The only thing that was replaced in the circuit was the power amplifier, and the effect is more akin to replacing the DAC with a much higher class one. The sonic stage in our studio now looks as if some bubble surrounding it burst. The wall behind the monitors disappeared - it stretched to make room for a surprising amount of detail with a clarity I had not heard before. High frequencies seem to have softened a bit, leaving a lot of detectable differences between resonances - which is always very helpful when mixing brass elements of drums, vocals, etc. In the bandwidth context, the biggest difference probably occurred in the bass. The cyberAMP v3.1 controls it perfectly. It is unbelievably effective - bigger at first glance - but it is also fast, dynamic and malleable. I'm in the process of testing its effectiveness on a new system - I don't yet know how its knockout sound will translate into final satisfaction with my mixes when tested on other (everyday) systems.

What I do know for sure is that the Marian amplifier has that rare magical power to give great pleasure from listening to music. I have listened to classical, film music from the golden age of large orchestras in a more experimental than classical version, rock, jazz, and powerfully massaged modern electronics. I have a right to suspect that this amplifier will delight professionals as well as hobbyists and other enthusiasts of good sound. I highly recommend checking out this equipment with your own ears. In my case, it was an experience similar to discovering an album so close to the absolute - stunning music and sound that I make room for it on a special shelf.

Oleksa Sodomora

With the model M I train my ear for compression, which is more difficult on other speakers. These are monitors where you'll notice over-compressed mastering, subtle saturation and wide stereo imaging

One of the examples of what I`m saying can be heard perfectly clear in "Toxicity" by SOAD. The song is extremely dynamic with multiple layers and parts and they all can be heard clearly throufg the speakers. The quiet parts are lively with no excessive compression, the whispers of Serj can be heard effortlessly throughout the verses and bridge; Same gos for the orchestral parts here and there, coming in full through the end of the song. Kudos to Rick Rubin for a great job on such an iconic track, which went way better than his work with Metallica on Death Magnetic, but that`s a totally different story. The speakers #linearpro are a perfect tool for analyzing things like that, to train Your ears and become better musician/producer/engineer.

// Jan Gerhard: "Nice! THIS is what mixing and mastering engineers want and need: Monitors that let you listen to every layer in the mix. What they DON'T need is speakers that mix down all those layers to one soup. Designing a proper crossover and choice the drivers is so much important."

linearpro™ // model M+W+cyberAMP set 2.2

I already know a bit of what I'm talking about with linearpro monitors. I'm so used to such a particular sound that the only thing that changes during recording is actually the position and choice of microphones. I am satisfied with the overall sound without moving any knobs. Such certainty in the work involving the sound of loudspeakers is impossible to judge. I wish everyone could experience something like that. The phenomenal combination of analog aspects in the speakers themselves, as well as the incredible quality and precision of the amplifier ensure that you can really hear what is going on with the sound right from the level of getting it to the microphone. Every time, I feel as if what the musicians are playing in our liveroom (Quality studio, Warsaw) is being played in front of me and I am in the liveroom with them. They are actually similar in appearance. They don't embellish anything, they don't distract from each other, they don't add or hide detail. They are simply what they should be. They give the implementer what he needs - the confidence that what is happening is really happening.

Jeremiasz Hendzel

I am privileged to be a studio engineer at Damian Pietrasik Quality Studio which is based in Warsaw, Poland. One day after arriving at work I noticed a new pair of speakers set behind the desk (with the subwoofer placed underneath). The design was lit, so I quickly powered on the computer to hear some of my favourite records through them. First impression was really good. Sound was very detailed and the speakers clearly had a fast transient response. I very much liked the stereo imaging and general feel of the music coming out of them.

Then I tried measuring the setup using my Sonarworks Reference set of mic and software - the results were outrageous. The frequency response was really as flat as it gets, differing from the ideal curve by hardly more than 1dB through the most of the audio range. The model M from linearaudio.pro™ is a killer monitor which has no real competitors within its price tag.

// Jan Gerhard: "The review from Jeremiasz Hendzel is most credible. It has a nice prologue and is not too long and exaggerated."

^{#SECOND review from J.Hendzel}

Thanks to Marian Mlodnicki, Daniel Jankowski and Piotr Zabrodzki, I had the opportunity to test linearpro™ (model M ver2.0 from 2020) and Lipinski (model L-707 "timeles classic" version from 2008) speakers in late 2021. The reference speaker for me was the (being a permanent fixture in my studio) Genelec 1037B, which I use fully calibrated with software from Sonarworks. Due to the peculiar, not fully customizable positioning of the console and the large Genelecs, we started the tests by trying to find the best sounding position of the two pairs of speakers being compared. It turned out to be a horizontal positioning of both speakers one on top of the other. The room itself, in which the test took place, is not perfectly adapted. It managed to achieve a low reverberation time and „not-bad“ frequency response, but it has its problems - mainly around 100Hz. I'll start the comparison by listing the common features. The tested speakers are definitely worthy rivals, competitors of the same class. Both pairs of monitors offered a pleasant stereo image of similar width. They handled transients just as well. The quality of the reproduced sound was top-notch and I was eager to turn the volume knob to the maximum. Now let me turn to the differences. The speakers definitely differ in frequency response. If I had to make the best possible „hybrid model“ out of the compared models, I would take, in order:

up to 90Hz > linearpro™ model M

90-120Hz > Lipinski L-707 // * other room > linearpro™

120Hz-3kHz > linearpro™ model M

3-6kHz > Lipinski L-707 // ** model M v3.0 > linearpro™

6kHz upwards > linearpro™ model M

I must point out here that the decision in the 90-120 Hz band was influenced by my own preference of the room (studio at music school in Laski, near Warsaw). I am familiar with the linearpro model M from my work in Quality Studio, and the unnatural boost around 100Hz that I heard during the test is not present there.

// * Jan Gerhard: „So it was a problem of the room, not the loudspeaker.“

I will now describe the impressions of the frequency response in a little more detail. The M model goes noticeably lower than the L-707. I wouldn't say that this allows a full-range operation without a subwoofer, but undoubtedly the linearaudio shows more information in the low band. The „L-707 problem“ was also around 200Hz, where it sounded „hollow“ compared to the M model. This was especially audible when listening to songs strongly based on tom toms and electric guitars - there there was simply a lack of energy. Above 120Hz I liked the linearaudio M speakers better. Only the higher midrange fell in favor of the L-707. The 3-6 kHz range drew attention with its accuracy and legibility.

// ** Marian Mlodnicki: „this problem has been corrected in the model M ver3.0 produced from 2022.“

In the treble band (6kHz upwards) the M model is the winner again. Maybe there's even a bit more of it in them than there should be, but its timbre was much more like the one I was familiar with from the recordings I listened to.

linearpro // linearaudio.pro

Guided only by my impressions from the test I did, I would choose the linearaudio.pro! I would certainly consider using them with a dedicated subwoofer, which would allow reliable and precise monitoring of the lowest band as well. The L-707 is a worthy rival, which had to recognize the superiority of the M model in the competition in my studio.

Radoslaw Bednarek "Rad"

"Linearaudio M-v2.0 surpass Genelec 1037B. Sound quality is a class higher. Clarity, depth, listening precision in every band. Once you try it you'll never forget it." // rbmusic.pl

Linearpro™ model M speakers are highly sought-after equipment in the professional studio space and are known for their exceptional sound quality and accuracy. This is especially true at Studio in Laskach (located in the suburbs of Warsaw, Poland), where I use the model M speakers for a variety of tasks, including music production, mixing & mastering, and monitoring audio during the recording sessions.

One of the reasons why the model M speakers are so well suited for use in a recording studio is their ability to produce a more accurate and natural sound compared to other high-end speakers. I use a second set of high-end Genelec 1037B speakers in the studio's control room, which are also known for their excellent sound quality. The model M speakers however, are able to produce a more accurate and natural sound, making them ideal for use in a professional recording environment.

Furthermore, the studio uses Yamaha NS-10 speakers (known for their focus on the mid-range spectrum of sound), alongside the model M speakers, to allow for an even more complete and versatile audio experience. The Yamaha speakers provide a detailed, accurate representation of the mid-range frequencies, while the model M speakers provide a full, clean, and deep representation of the entire audio spectrum. This combination keeps me comfortable and confident during the mixing & mastering process, where precision and accuracy are paramount.

The model M speakers are an essential tool in my workflow, whether it be recording, production, or mixing & mastering, as they allow me to hear every detail of the audio I'm working on. The speakers' ability to reproduce the entire audio spectrum with accuracy and detail allows me to make precise adjustments to the sound and achieve the desired result. This ensures that the final product will sound as good as it was intended to.

In addition to their impressive sound quality, I also praise the build quality of the model M speakers. They are made from high-grade materials and are designed to be durable, which is important for professionals who rely on their equipment day-in and day-out.

I am one of the many professionals who rely on Linear Audio (#linearpro) equipment in a studio environment and attest to the quality of the model "M" speakers, praising their ruggedness and ability to help achieve the desired results.

Bryndal

Author of the most unexpected featuring in the history of Polish rap:

My name is Kuba Bryndal, my day job is music production, especially rap and electronic recordings. I write, produce, realize and mix. Together with my colleagues in the studio, we use PMC IB1S monitors + Hypex amplifier on a daily basis. These monitors are a great tool for both engineering and conceptual work - they guarantee both surgical precision hearing, great translanation to other soundsystems, while sounding great from a purely "consumer" perspective.

When we connected these speakers to the linearpro™ // cyberAMP ver_3.1 amplifier of Marian Mlodnicki design (instead Hypex), it was a complete "game-changer" for me. A jump in sound quality a shelf higher, which I would not have expected completely after replacing one high-quality power amplifier with another. Not on this scale. The change I experienced was more like changing a D/A converter from the heavily budget shelf (Focusrite Scarlett 1st and 2nd generation) to the professional shelf (Benchmark/Sound Devices). Very precise, but also delicate treble, fast and clear midrange, much more "punch" and dynamics compared to its predecessors. This Class-D amplifier is hidden in a sleek, minimalist and small (1U-sized rack unit) enclosure. I would recommend this equipment to anyone, both professional music/audio people and those who interact with music purely for fun.

Unfinished reviews // briefly for now

Piotr Zabrodzki

Peter is a very special person. Every time when he accidentally tells me about his achievements in the world of music, I am bursting with pride and honour to meet him. Singer, composer, multi-instrumentalist, music producer - a master, but damn humble... Known in different corners of the world, from Mexico to Japan - South Korea he did not skip and that performing at their biggest festival! ... In some time Piotr will write a full review of my model M - for today only briefly:

Linearpro speakers are very innovative in terms of design. The loudspeakers look simple, but because of that you can trust them. The design is unique yet ascetic. They look like a professional tool.

Something that captivated me about the Lipinski L-707 when I first heard them was the crystal clarity of the sound. I used them for many years. But Marian has highlighted this quality even more in her "M" loudspeakers, making the linearpro™ monitors an ideal tool for mastering.

Marian is an expressive character. He is a true enthusiast, a tireless engineer and optimist, and has created a product appreciated by outstanding professionals.

// zabrodzki.com

Andrzej Starzyk "Looptrotter"

The founder of one of the most recognizable pro audio brands, LOOPTROTTER, hosted LINEARPRO loudspeakers in his home and company - reviews with a legendary person whose devices are known from Mexico to Japan will be released in some time ...
// looptrotter.com

Damian Handzlik

linearaudio.pro™ model M+W monitors with a cyberAMP v3.1 are great if not the best in their price range and there is no doubt about it.
// connectedmastering.com

CharlieStudio

Today (January 19, 2022) I had the opportunity to listen to an amplifier that was designed for use in professional recording studios. This amplifier is cyberAMP // ver3.1

It plays phenomenally and is certainly suitable for home use as well. This amp easily drives any speakers that stand in my studio, and there are some :) The sound is incredibly precise, but not fatiguing. The bass is simply phenomenal. One could write for a long time, but the wiser of the more capable in writing have already done so. If anyone is looking for a powerful amplifier for their system, I recommend cyberAMP // ver3.1 with a clear conscience.
// fb.com_CharlieStudioAudio

Marek Bilinski

That's right, this is the same Marek Bilinski who escaped to the tropics in 1984-1987 [click to listen] ... For me personally, this is the Polish "Jean-Michel Jarre". If someone had told me those 30+ years ago, when I was listening with delight to Marek songs, on tapes, that I would have the pleasure of meeting him in person, my eyelids would have lifted (high, above the height of the Tropics). Marek learned about the speakers long ago from Grzegorz (Greg) Jankowicz (they've known each other for years) and agreed to listen to them and write a review.
// fb.com_marekbilinski

Poland Audio Zone

... To be short and to the point: fast, clean, precise, linear and HiFi sound, design: what I like, symmetry, solidly made
// @polandaudiozone

Jan Gerhard

... Using NO DSP is a true USP (Unique Selling Point) - especially in Mastering! Focus on this Marian! ... The linearpro™ logo is good, very modern and clean.
// Germany

Laszlo Nobee

POLAND // "It is an indescribable experience for me. World-class loudspeakers - they are so good that it is difficult to compare with anything. You have to hear it and immerse yourself in the sound"

Ebenezer Aifuwa

NIGERIA // "What caught my attention was the front look, it was unique, not like the regular monitors we know of. You'll always want to have that second look if you're seeing it for the first time. I have heard the speakers production in some of the videos you have posted and it sounds amazing"

CJ Barnard "CeeJay"

SOUTH AFRICA // "LinearPro™ - Highest Professional Fidelity audio meets minimalist sculptured art. These beautiful monitors promise to be a worthy addition to any mastering engineer's toolbox, with refined styling to match any environment. Whether they be implemented as main (model M) or secondary references (model S), LinearPro will be the centerpiece of your studio's design! Their elegant and unique style is set to make LinearPro monitors an instantly recognizable future classic. I can't wait to add a set to my studio!"

Hatsuo Yoshida

JAPAN // ...